My RX8 developed an issue around last Thanksgiving, when the weather suddenly got extremely cold. This is my third and best RX, I worked on my own cars as a teen and into my 20's but my RX's are a lot different, and have been so reliable I never had to work on them, and take them to the shop for their regular maintenance. As I mentioned, it was very cold when I had to go to an appointment, and when I left my parking lot, it was hesitating a little when I shifted (stick), but that quickly went away as the car warmed up. I got to my destination, left the car parked in the cold for about 45 minutes to an hour and when I got back to the car to drive home, the clutch would engage until about 2500 RPM, and even then, it was acting normally. I was already in traffic, and every time I slowed down, I had to rev the engine up higher than normal to engage the clutch. I got out of traffic as soon as I could and popped the hood to check the clutch/brake reservoir, and found it wasn't filled to the upper marker on the reservoir, but I expected that, I had already bought new pads front and rear even though the brakes weren't giving any indication of being extremely warn, they were just at the point where they worked fine, but the mileage said 'change me'. So after checking that I was pretty close to home, and it was down hill all the way, and I found that I had to shift at even higher revs than before, like a little over 3k revs; I backed into my parking space in case I have to get towed and it's been sitting there ever since. My parking space has clean pavement, and a (After a couple of months, there is no sign of oil leaking on the ground or anywhere around the brake/transmission reservoir, I've got 4 quarts of Red Line MT-90 that I think should be enough to flush the brake lines and fill the reservoir after the brake pads are replaced, but I'm not 100% sure that's the only problem I have. I'd appreciate any wisdom shared about whether anything else might be an issue with the car. It's been highly reliable and the only issues I had were things like a dirty oxygen sensor, temperature sensor on the radiator failing, athe air conditioner needing freon, and being rear ended... twice.
Thanks for any relevant input.... J K (PS- I live in Maryland just outside the Beltway, if anyone has any shops they would recommend around the Rockville / Bethesda area I'd appreciate hearing about them.